Oregon has a rich tradition of looking to its coastal waters for recreation, livelihood, and nourishment. Clam digging is one of Oregon’s most popular outdoor activities enjoyed by all ages. All you need are adequate boots and clothing, a bucket, a clam shovel or rake, a Shellfish License, and a copy of the current Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations.

Recreational bay clamming provides an opportunity for families to come together in the outdoors for a fun, educational and rewarding experience. In short, clams are a valued resource for the people of Oregon and we want them to stay that way. It is our hope that through the SEACOR project we can gain a better understanding of the clam populations in Oregon to preserve their use for future generations.

SEACOR (pronounced “seeker”), is a permanent project of the shellfish program within the Marine Resources Program of ODFW, located in Newport, OR.

The SEACOR project goal is to conduct bay clam population and estuarine habitat studies throughout all the bays along the coast of Oregon. The project’s primary focus includes documenting where recreationally important bay clams are found and the abundance, biomass, and preferred habitat type for each species.

Our surveys target the major recreationally harvested clams: butter clams, cockle clams, gaper clams, and native littleneck clams. However, we also collect information on other shellfish species utilizing the estuaries such as softshell clams and juvenile Dungeness crabs.

SEACOR is funded by recreational shellfish license fees, meaning that clammers and crabbers are directly contributing to research on the resources they utilize. Information gathered by this project will assist ODFW in making management decisions to conserve clam populations and estuaries for future generations to enjoy.

Within these webpages, we share with you some background about bay clams, the why and how we conduct bay clam and estuarine assessments, and a summary of our findings to date.